Draft-rigging for cars.



A. C. McCORD.

DRAFT RIGGING FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.23. 1914.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

. broken away.

ALVIN c. ivreconn, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-RIGGING FOR CARS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915,

- Application filed April 23, 1914. Serial No. 833,891.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALvIN C. MoCoRo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft-Rigging for cars and provides an extremely simple and highly eflicient laterally flexible connection between the coupler and the draft gear or rigging.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

Particularly, the present invention I'ellates to draft gear or rigging wherein the coupler .is connected, by means of a key, to arms, links, yoke or other suitable part of the draft gear. From this statement it will be understood that my invention is applicable to various different types of draft gear or rigging wherein a coupler connecting key is employed.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my present invention as incorporated in or applied to a draft rigging of the type disclosed and claimed in my pending application, Serial Number 391,308, filed September 6, 1907, and entitled Draft rigging for cars, and which application illustrates the preferred form, of a differential draft gear that is broadly disclosed and broadly claimed in my Patent 763,998, issued of date, July 5th, 1904, and entitled Draft rigging for cars.

Describing now in detail the invention as embodied in the preferred form of draft rigging, Figure 1 is a view chiefly in plan but with some parts in horizontal section and with some parts broken away, showing the said draft rigging; and Fig. 2 is a view chiefly in vertical section taken centrally through the draft rigging, but with some parts shown in full and with some parts The numeral 1 indicates the draft or center sills of the car. To the rear portions of these sills 1 are rigidly secured heavy rear follower stops 2. To the forward portion of said sills are rigidly secured front follower stops in the form of heavy metallic plates 3 that are provided with long hori zontally extended slots 4 that are co-incident with slots 5 in the draft sills 1.

The coupler bar 6, at its rear end, carries a heavy transversely extended key 7 that loosely fits a seat formed therein, and the ends of which project through the slots 4-5 and are adapted to slide both forwardly and rearwardly in said slots, from the normal position shown in the drawings.

The body or casing of the draft rigging is indicated as an entirety by the numeral 8, that is provided with laterally projecting follower lugs 10-that normally engage 1 the rear stop lugs 2, and afford one form key 7, and the rear extremities of said slots,

as shown, terminate in line with the rear extremities of the slots 45.

The front follower 15 normally engages the rear end of the coupler bar 6 and the rear ends of the front follower stops or draft lug plates 3, and it is provided with passages through \xhich the draft arms 13 work freely.

The spring cap 17 serves as a secondary or intermediate follower and is mounted to slide within the casing 8. The draft gear spring 12 is located within the casing 8 and is compressed between the cap 17 and the inner end of the said casing 8.

Cam acting differential levers 18 and 19 are directly interposed between the front follower 15 and the cap or intermediate follower 17. These levers are placed within and centrally of the front portion ofthe casing 8 and are pivotally connected thereto, respectively at18 and 19 The draft gear construction so far specifically described, is identical or substantially identical with that disclosed in my said pending application above identified.

To provide for lateral flexibility or oscillatory swinging movements of the coupler in respect to the draft rigging, the key 7 is provided with a. curved edge 20 and a supplemental key 21 having a reversely formed curved surface fitting the said curved surface 20, is inserted into the key slot of the coupler bar and is pressed between the said curved surface 20 and the solid inner. end portion of the said coupler bar. The surface 20 on the key 7 is preferably made convex and projected rearward or inward and the engaging surface of the supplemental key 21 is made concave.

The tension of the spring 12 acting through the rigging, normally holds the supplemental key 21 tightly pressed between the key 7 and inner end of the coupler bar, so that it will not he accidentally misplaced; and furthermore, the pressure exertedby the spring 12 yieldingly presses the front follower 15 against the flat inner end of the coupler bar and yieldingly holds the same in a centered normal position. However, in traveling curves, the coupler can freely swing out of center to adapt itself to the line of strain, (see, for example, dotted lines in Fig. Under such lateral swinging movement of the coupler bar, the coope 'ating curved surfaces of the main and supplemental keys ,move, one on the other and afford the desired pivot or fulcrum. This construction, therefore, affords an extremely simple and highly etlicient laterally flexible connection between the draw bar and draft rigging, and furthermore, permits the coupler bar to be very quickly connected to or disconnected from the draft rigging.

It is very desirable that the supplemental wedge 21 should be an independent or individual element, but from a broad point of View, it affords a curved surface movable with the coupler bar and which engages the cooperating curved surface on the key.

.From what has been said, it is obvious that my present invention may be applied to or incorporated with any formmf draftgear or rigging wherein the coupler-bar is connected by a key to a member or members that move with one of the followers.

\Yhat I claim is:

1. The combination with a draft rigging and a coupler bar, of a horizontally extended key connecting said bar to one of the movable elements of said draft rigging, said. key having a longitudinally curved surface adapting the said coupler bar to oscillate laterally.

'2. The combination with a draft rigging and a coupler bar, of a horizontally extended key connecting said bar to one of the movable elements of said rigging, said key having a longitudinally curved edge engaging a curved surface carried by said draw lowers, a cushioning device interposed be-.

tween said followers. and laterally spaced slotted arms connected to the inner follower. of a coupler bar extended between said slot ted arms and engageable with the front follower, and a key extended through said slotted arms and through said coupler bar and having a curved surface engageable with a curved surface carried by said draw bar and affording a pivot adapting said draw bar to oscillate laterally.

The combination with a draft rigging comprising follower stops, cooperating followers, a cushioning device interposed between said followers, and laterally spaced slotted arms connected to the inner follower, of a coupler bar extended between said slotted arms and engageable with the front follower, a key extended through said slotted arms and through said draw bar. and a supplemental key interposed between the lirst noted key and the inner end of said coupler bar. the said keys having curved en aging surfaces affording a pivot adapting said coupler bar to oscillate laterally.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALVIN C. McCOR-D.

W'itnesses B. A. hhonnlnnwrr, G. J. Cornmnn. 

